Happily Ever After, After All
by The Little Geeky Piano Girl
Summary: Ever wondered how they lengthened the Cinderella play in series 2? This is my take on it.
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1

Mark: Jason

Jennifer: Charlie

Anthony: Simon

Donal: Declan

I don't own any of the songs in this, nor the characters.

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><p>"All right!" The deafening noise continued uninterrupted until, "QUIET!" Everyone turned to see their blonde director standing on a chair with her hands on her hips. A wry smile made its way across her face. "Thank you. Now that I have your attention, we can discuss how to lengthen the play in a <em>civilised <em>manner." She narrowed her eyes at the eight in front of her. "Who has any ideas?"

"Well, I think that, as the title character, I should get another song to sing, it's what the audience will be expecting." Krystal stated with a toss of her hair.

"But the fairy make-over queen scene was such a hit, we should add a few minutes to it." Tayla cut in. The arguing started up again building up a crescendo and she rolled her eyes before starting to get down from her chair, defeated, when a voice rang out above the rising chaos.

"Charlie should be in it." Everyone stopped to stare at the speaker, surprise clear on all their faces. "I mean, think about it, you're all arguing to extend your scenes but Charlie is the only one who doesn't have a scene at all." Charlie's eyes widened.

"Jason, I don't think…"

"It's a great idea!" Jess piped up.

"And besides, it's only fair." Maddie added. "You worked so hard on it; you should have a chance to be in it." Charlie looked round at all the faces turned towards her hesitantly.

"I don't know guys, I mean, it's a musical and I can't even sing…"

"That's a lie." Jason added, pushing to the front of the group, planting himself in front of Charlie, arms crossed. "You can sing and you know it." He challenged. "Don't you remember when we were younger and decided to start a band? We did singing lessons together for years!" Charlie slowly started to turn red as the others continued to look to her, earnestly. "I even have a plot in mind." She took one last look at the faces turned towards her before sighing and reluctantly nodding her agreement.

"Alright, what's this plot you had in mind?" Jason grinned.

"Well…"

* * *

><p>As the curtain went down on the first act of their play, Jason approached Charlie, who was nervously fiddling with anything she could lay her hands on: clothes, hair… "Nervous?" She levelled a glare at him.<p>

"What do you think? You know I've never sang in front of anyone before." He feigned injury.

"Ouch, Charlie, that hurt. You really think of me as nobody?" She sighed, glancing worriedly at the clock on the wall.

"You know what I mean Jason."

"You'll be fine." He took her hand from where it was twisting through her hair. "And you look fine, stop worrying."

"Time's up everyone!" The others appeared behind them, filing into their positions on stage. Jason squeezed Charlie's hand before heading to his own position. "Good luck."

* * *

><p>The curtain came up upon a scene of a well furnished room, the living room of Cinderella's new apartment. Cinderella lies sprawled across a sofa whilst her stepmother and stepsisters clean around her.<p>

Mark comes through the door with his two assistants, Anthony and Donal, thumbing through files. "Well Cinderella, the sales for your album are through the roof, you did a good job on that interview on Friday."

"Of course I did, I always do." Cinderella remained sprawled across her sofa, almost ignoring her guests.

"Well, we were thinking," he started.

"What a surprise!" came Cinderella's scathing reply but Mark simply continued, rolling his eyes.

"A great way to promote you, would be to have a competition,"

"Another?"

"In which the finalist would have to compete against you." Cinderella sat up in surprise.

"_Against me!_" She laughed mockingly, tossing her hair. "Why, they'll have no chance. I suppose I'll have to try to recall what it felt like back when I was in the competition."

"It's been four months Cinderella." Mark cut in dryly but she merely ignored him before flouncing off to her bedroom.

* * *

><p>"And that was Cinderella with her latest song, 'It's All About Me'." Mark announced, slightly bored by now of Cinderella's antics. "And now, our final contestant of the evening, Miss Jennifer Garnet." As Jennifer stepped onto the stage, Mark froze and stood, transfixed, before the music started, breaking the spell and he sped off the stage as she began to sing, her voice capturing his attention once again.<p>

I'm driving down this highway

I've got nowhere to go

No one waiting on me

No messages on my phone

'Cause I've got my guitar in the back seat

Guess I'm setting down this road

And there's nothing more that I need

Why do I feel alone?

'Cause I'll be alright

All I need is a sign

It's a long road

But I'm hoping things will just get better

Well I need to fight

Put everything on the line

I gotta make a change

It's now or never

I'm moving at my own pace

Not a chance of slowing down

To get to where I'm going

There's no time to wait around

Alright

'Cause I'll be alright

All I need is a sign

It's a long road

But I'm hoping things will just get better

Well I need to fight

Put everything on the line

I gotta make a change

It's now or never

You can't look back

At what could've been

You just gotta keep moving on

You can't think about

What should've been

It doesn't break you

It makes you stronger in the end

I know, I know

Yeah, well I know

'Cause I'll be alright

All I need is a sign

It's a long road

But I'm hoping things will just get better

Well I need to fight

Put everything on the line

I gotta make a change

It's now or never

'Cause I'll be alright

All I need is a sign

It's a long road

But I'm hoping things will just get better

Well I need to fight

Put everything on the line

I gotta make a change

It's now or never

'Cause I'll be alright

All I need is a sign

It's a long road

But I'm hoping things will just get better

Well I need to fight

Put everything on the line

I gotta make a change

It's now or never

The crowd broke into thunderous applause as Jennifer finished her song and smiling, stepped away from the microphone. An equally spellbound Mark approached her, taking her hand and holding it in the air, proclaiming, "Miss Jennifer Garnet" before ushering her off the stage. Once backstage, he turned to Jennifer, "I don't believe I've introduced myself, Miss Garnet, I'm Mark Augment." She took his proffered hand, flashing him a smile that left him dazzled. "It's very nice to meet you, Mr Augment."

* * *

><p>"Well, ladies and gentlemen, you can see all our contestants behind me on stage but only one can make it through to our final where they will compete against Cinderella." From her spot on stage, Cinderella winked flirtatiously and blew theatrical kisses to the audience and cameras, causing many an eye roll but Mark, simply used to her antics, continued undeterred. "And that one is…" with a glance at the cameras, contestants, audience and finally the opened envelope, he finally cried out "Miss Jennifer Garnet!" at which point the studio erupted into cheers and thunderous applause whilst the contestants rushed to hug and congratulate the deserved finalist. Cinderella however, merely narrowed her eyes at aforementioned finalist before flashing a 'winning' smile at the cameras and flouncing dramatically off the stage.<p>

Jennifer, still smiling excitedly, stepped off the stage to be faced with an equally smiling Mark. "Well, Miss Garnet, congratulations, you really deserve it."

"Thanks, it feels so surreal." She glanced around, smiling wistfully. "Almost like a dream."

"Well, I can assure you, it's real. You couldn't dream up something as fabulous as this!" Jennifer giggled and they reached the room where her coat and bag were. "Well, Miss Garnet, we'll have to arrange for you to meet with our costume designer sometime this week. She's so good; we call her the 'fairy make-over queen'. It's kind of an old nickname that stuck."

"I look forward to it, Mr Augment." She replied with a mock curtsey and a giggle.

"Please, call me Mark"

"Well, in that case, call me Jennifer." Mark smiled for what felt like the one hundredth time that evening, holding the door open for Jennifer.

"Well, I'll see you soon Jennifer."

"See you later, Mark." And with a final smile over her shoulder, she was gone.

* * *

><p>Cinderella stormed into her apartment, slamming the bedroom door behind her. "Jennifer's so great! Jennifer this! Jennifer that!" Each venomous statement was punctuated by a spangled pillow flung across the room as she emitted a scream of frustration. "This show was supposed to be about me! She's not even that good; nothing on me!" Suddenly, a wicked smile spread across her face. "Well, I'll just have to wipe the floor with her in the final next week, won't I?" and, laughing manically, she flung herself onto her large bed.<p> 


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

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><p>The next week flew by for Jennifer and before she knew it, she was backstage with Mark and the fairy make-over queen, watching Cinderella perform. As the final strains of <em>'I'm the best damn thing that your eyes have ever seen'<em> floated from the stage, Mark stepped up next to Jennifer, whispering in her ear as he passed, "Nervous?"

Jennifer grinned and threw back at him, "Not a bit!" and watched him approach Cinderella who was currently bowing and smiling at her 'adoring fans'.

"Well, that was Miss Cinderella, and wasn't she wonderful?" With a few final waves and theatrical kisses blown, he finally managed to usher Cinderella backstage, where she promptly tossed her head at Jennifer and pranced towards her chair, from where she could see the entire performance and the judges' reactions. "And now, our finalist, chosen by the judges, Miss Jennifer Garnet!" Jennifer bounced excitedly onto the stage in a sky blue knee high dress, a stark contrast to her previous jeans and long t-shirt ensemble, passing Mark, who whispered "Good luck," as she did, along the way to the microphone where she, following the music, opened her mouth to sing, once again captivating the audience.

Breathe you out

Breathe you in

You keep coming back to tell me

You're the one who could have been

In my eyes

I see it all so clear

It was long ago and far away

But it never disappears

I try to put it in the past

Hold on to myself

And don't look back

I don't wanna dream about

All the things that never were

Maybe I can live without

When I'm out from under

I don't wanna feel the pain

What good would it do me now?

I'll get it all figured out

When I'm out from under

So let me go

Just let me fly away

Let me feel the space between us

Growing deeper

And much darker everyday

Watch me now

And I'll be someone new

My heart will be unbroken

It will open up

For everyone but you

Even when I cross the line

It's like a lie I've told a thousand times

I don't wanna dream about

All the things that never were

Maybe I can live without

When I'm out from under

I don't wanna feel the pain

What good would it do me now?

I'll get it all figured out

When I'm out from under

And part of me

Still believes when you

Say you're gonna stick around

And part of me

Still believes we can

Find a way to work it out

But I know

That we tried everything

We could try so let's just say goodbye

Forever

I don't wanna dream about

All the things that never were

Maybe I can live without

When I'm out from under

I don't wanna feel the pain

What good would it do me now?

I'll get it all figured out

When I'm out from under

I don't wanna dream about

All the things that never were

Maybe I can live without

When I'm out from under

I don't wanna feel the pain

What good would it do me now?

I'll get it all figured out

When I'm out from under

When I'm out from under

The crowd, once again, rose to their feet for the young girl on stage before them, many with teary eyes as Mark, once again beaming, made his way towards her, clapping along with them. "Miss Jennifer Garnet, ladies and gentlemen! And now let us take a break whilst the judges confer."

* * *

><p>"And we're back with the results. And the winner of tonight's competition is…" a quick glance around the stage area revealed the two contestants, one on either side of Mark, a smug Cinderella and a quietly excited Jennifer. "Jennifer Garnet!" Both girls' jaws dropped open in shock as confetti rained down from the ceiling. Jennifer recovered once Mark twirled her round in a hug, both laughing happily as Anthony and Donal came forward with her prize. "And for our winner, a recording contract!"<p>

That was when Cinderella snapped.

"WHAT!" Everyone's heads snapped round to face her as, growing increasingly red in the face, she started to scream and stamp her feet. "This competition was supposed to promote _me! _ME! _I_ was supposed to win, not _her!" _The three boys gathered round, all nodding their heads as Anthony spoke.

"Cinderella, on account of your actions, your contract with our company is officially retracted."

At this, Cinderella simply screamed all the louder until she was dragged off the stage, screaming "You're nothing without me, you'll be sorry!" at which eyebrows were merely raised.

"Well, that's all from us, goodnight!"

* * *

><p>"Wow," Jennifer let out a breath, they were the only two left on stage after the cameras had been shut off and Cinderella forcibly removed from the building. "That really was something, huh?"<p>

"Yeah," Mark mumbled distractedly. "Uh, Mi- I mean, Jennifer?" She turned to face him, head cocked to the side. "Would you…uh…would you like to go out with me sometime?" At this she smiled brightly.

"I'd love to."

The fairy make-over queen, who was watching from the side, commented to the audience "It looks like someone is going to get a happily ever after, after all." She paused, considering. "Well, as long as _they_ don't let it get to their heads." At which point the curtain dropped for the final time.

* * *

><p>"Congratulations guys!"<p>

"That was brilliant!"

"Let's go and get ice-cream to celebrate!"

The others all filed out of the theatre after the audience had left, leaving Charlie and Jason alone on stage, as their counterparts in the play had been.

"Well, that certainly went well."

"Yeah, I told you that you'd be fine, didn't I?" Charlie giggled, glancing over her shoulder at Jason as she continued to tidy up after them. "Uh…Charlie, I-uh-I was wondering…"

"Spit it out Jason." She giggled again, peering through her hair at him, still wearing the blue dress.

"Would you like to?"

"Huh?" Charlie's nose wrinkled in confusion as she finished picking up the scripts.

"I mean, go out with me sometime. For real." She eyed him for a moment, gauging his sincerity before her face broke into a wide smile which was soon mirrored on his.

"I'd love to."


End file.
